Where Were You?

Δημοσιεύτηκε: Αυγ 28 , 2014
Συγγραφέας: Stephen White

Just as they say that everyone remembers what they were doing
when they heard that JFK had been assassinated, the same applies to
9/11. In my case I was in a Dixons electrical shop; I watched the
second plane fly into the building on a wall of about 50 TVs which
were on display for sale, all showing the identical picture. I
commented on the devastating nature of the spectacle to the sales
assistant who was completing my purchase. ‘It’s just TV’ he said,
not recognising that the event was real.

The result of that attack, the War on Terror and the subsequent
events in Afghanistan and Iraq, continue to affect our daily
lives.

Five weeks ago a passenger plane was shot out of the sky by
separatists in Ukraine, and nearly 300 people were killed. Not only
can I not remember what I was doing at the time, but my amnesia
seems to be shared by most of the world. The event has disappeared
from the media. Criticism of Russia, which was involved either
directly or by association, is non-existent. The UN appears not to
have the incident in their sights. It is almost as if it never
happened.

Last week the video of a jihadist apparently beheading
journalist James Foley was thankfully kept off our TV screens.
Undoubtedly there was moral outrage in the UK and the rest of the
Western world, but this was not so much about the barbarity of the
act than on the fact that the perpetrator appeared to be
English.

We have become desensitised, less affected by the most recent
horror as a result of the previous traumas we have experienced.
This effect causes ever more extreme behaviour from the
perpetrators in order to ensure that their desired output – shock
horror – is achieved. Three months ago we were appalled when Boko
Haram kidnapped 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria. Now we see Islamic
State murdering hundreds of Yazidis, and Christians. How much
further will they feel they need to go to get their message
across?

In my opinion the response of the world is peculiar to say the
least – however severe the terrorist tactics, public opinion is
that the antidote should be diplomacy rather than retaliation – to
open talks and find a solution rather than to stand up to the
bully.

Desensitisation affects our negotiating lives as well. There has
always been bad behaviour by some negotiators – cheating, fraud,
failing to disclose pertinent information, bullying, and so on. I
am not suggesting that one can compare the brutality of war with
any parallel in the commercial world, but increasingly extreme
negotiating tactics do seem to be the order of the day, and for the
same reason – because negotiating partners have become desensitised
to previous more moderate behaviour, so more desperate tactics have
to be used.

A recent example from our consultancy casebook that I would have
considered outrageous 10 years ago now seems normal. Our client’s
client had been a significant purchaser and as a result our client
had given them a 20% discount in return for the volume offered.
They then proposed that the volume for 2015 would halve because of
budget constraints but demanded not only the existing discount but
an additional 30% off list price. No explanation or reason was
given; no indication that there was any flexibility in their
demand, instead they threatened delisting and other dire
consequences if our client refused.

Again, our client felt that the right response was diplomatic -
to ask for a meeting and to use persuasion and compromise skills to
change their client’s perception of what represented reasonable
behaviour. We disagreed, and advised that they should clearly
advise that they would not engage with their client at all until
the threat is off the table and more reasonable behaviour
prevailed. This they have done, and we wait to see the
reaction.

The message we learn from the macro-environment is simple. If
our response to bad behaviour is wishy-washy and fatigued we teach
the other side to become increasingly badly behaved. There are
times when a more resolute and robust attitude is better.